Israelifirmmakesworld'ssmallestandlightestphone

MOSCOW, February 8 (RIA Novosti) - An Israeli firm unveiled a tiny mobile phone, which the Guinness Book of Records officially named the world's lightest and smallest cell phone, AbsoluteGadget.com announced Thursday.

According to Modu Mobile Ltd, the 40 gram phone does everything an up-to-date cell phone should do: sends and receives text messages, has a built-in speaker, Bluetooth and MP3 player with at least 1GB memory.

It can be converted into conventional mobile phone when plugged into different "modu jackets," which the manufacturers claim will enable a drastic change in design and features for an average price of $75.

"It's truly the smallest and lightest phone in the world, but the idea is that most of the time you won't operate it by itself, you will operate it within a jacket or within a Mate," Modu's CEO Dov Moran was quoted as saying.

The phone is the first device to be compatible with a wide variety of other consumer gadgets, so called modu mates, such as laptops, GPS devices, cameras and picture frames, adding call capability and providing an extra memory of up to 16 GB within the phone's size limits.

"We began working with three manufacturers of other products only about a month ago and the feedback from them is unbelievable, because with very little effort they can make a device with a Modu slot that gives them much broader functionality and features," Moran said.

The producers said initially two 1GB and 4GB versions would go on sale.

The device will be fully presented at the Mobile World Congress to be held next week with the mobile hitting retail shelves later this year.